


Hey Good Lookin' Whatcha Got Cooking?

by Books in the Blood (WholockHobbit88)



Category: Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: Andrew feeds Steven, Belly Rubs, Caregiving, Caretaking, Cuddles, Gen, basically pure fluff, gratutious mentions of the brunch episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-09 10:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15265674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WholockHobbit88/pseuds/Books%20in%20the%20Blood
Summary: Andrew enjoys feeding Steven; maybe a little more than he should. Its not a problem....until Steven calls him out on it and proposes some experimenting. Andrew thinks that this could possibly be the best thing they've ever done.....unless of course it turns out to be total disaster.....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen several people mention how much Andrew seems to enjoy to feeding Steven and that idea got stuck in my head. So, I fell in love with the idea of this fic and I had to write this.....Its my first Worth It fic. I hope you enjoy!

Andrew wanted to take care of Steven; that was a fact that he couldn't deny, at least to himself. It didn't matter that Steven didn't need saving or helping; they'd just be going about their day together and Andrew would be hit out of nowhere with a sudden pull to help Steven do something he could do himself. Usually, because of their job, this manifested itself in needing to feed Steven. Of course Steven didn't NEED him to this; sure, the fans enjoyed these particularly domestic bits but the real reason he did it was he was simply overcome with a burning desire to care for Steven.

Andrew didn't know where the hell these feelings were coming from; he'd never felt that insatiable need to care for someone before. He'd never noticed someone's clothing was rumbled and had to stop himself from fixing it. He'd never dropped someone off at home at night and felt the need to walk them inside and stay with them until they were safely tucked in their bed. He'd never felt the need to read a menu to a functioning adult who could clearly read it themselves. He never had…..that was until he met Steven.

He wasn't fucking stupid; he wasn't going to act on those impulses. He had no idea where they came from or what they meant and frankly he didn't want to. And more than that he absolutely knew that Steven wouldn't appreciate it; he wasn't some helpless maiden and even though Andrew wasn't suggesting he was, he knew that's how it would be interpreted. So, Andrew settled for the occasional pleasure of getting to feed Steven while they were shooting Worth It (and also plenty of times when they were out not on the show). It became a 'thing' they did; he enjoyed it and he was fairly sure that Steven did too and he got comfortable with the idea that no one thought anything of it. And maybe pleasure wasn't exactly the right word for it; that made it sound obscene. Andrew just really enjoyed it; there was some deep part of him NEEDED it even if he didn't understand why. He wouldn't say he had any paternal instincts; he'd never really been around children and wasn't even sure he liked them all that much. So why did the idea of taking care of someone, especially an adult, appeal to him so much?

He was good at hiding those feelings and doing his best to keep them tightly under wraps. That was until you factored alcohol into the mix. He was very good at holding his liquor but he supposed it was only a matter of time until something slipped under those conditions. He just always thought that what would 'slip' would be he'd tell some embarrassing anecdote from his past or that he'd walk up to someone he found attractive and hit on them in an embarrassing fashion. He never dreamed that he'd let something slip that he'd been trying so desperately to keep inside. Damn alcohol…..

He was totally wasted; in his defense, so was Steven. They didn't normally get so drunk together, especially so publically and he really didn't know what the reason was this time; maybe they were just feeling the need to especially unwind even if they had started off innocently enough. They'd been taking shot after shot and Andrew had a higher tolerance than Steven who didn't drink very much; he got to watch the amusing descent of Steven's level headed personality into a giggling, silly mess long before the alcohol over took him personally. The night was a haze of uncontrolled laughter, sloppy dancing and an overwhelming sense of plain good feelings. There was plenty he didn't remember but it left him with a good feeling; it was what he did remember that left him feeling uncomfortable and outraged at his lack of self-control.

It was the end of the night and Andrew could feel himself waning; he was still ridiculously drunk and totally without a filter but felt shaky and needed food. Steven, on the other hand, was looking like he might just pass out and sleep the night on the club floor. Somehow, Andrew managed to drag Steven over to the table, laughing uncontrollably all the way at what, he had no idea. Despite the wonderful delicacies that they had become accustomed to because of Worth It, nothing sounded better to Andrew in that moment than cheese fries and he ordered a large order of them while trying to get Steven to stay awake while they waited on their food.

He shouldn't have done it; he should have just gone home and ate something and left Steven at his house to sleep; he should have known he was playing with fire. He was sober enough to know he was out of control but drunk enough to not want to be able to stop himself. And that was a very dangerous place to be in.

When the fries finally arrived at their table Andrew eagerly stuffed a few huge handfuls that were delicious as only drunk food could be into his mouth before turning to an almost slumbering Steven. Andrew felt that stirring, the deep compassionate need swell inside that he had tried to deny so many times that he felt, under the influence of alcohol, he could not contain. He was sober enough to know that he shouldn't do anything but drunk enough to not care.

"Steven…..you have to eat something" Andrew proceeded, taking a cheese covered fry and pressing it against Steven's lips. Andrew had no idea why that gave him as much pleasure as if Steven had eagerly eaten the extended food.

"M'tired…."Steven mumbled, sighing tiredly, the cheese from the fry sticking to his lips as he nestled around tiredly in the chair.

Andrew couldn't stop staring at that distracting bit of cheese on Steven's lips and wanting to remove it; he was drunk so he did that just that, wiping the errant bit of cheese and depositing it into his own mouth with a sick thrill. Steven didn't even seem to notice it.

"I know you're tired but if you eat you'll feel better…..you know you will" Andrew assured him. It was true and honest even if Andrew had his own selfish reasons for saying it. He pressed a fry against Steven's lips, poking…..poking until he finally opened and took it in, chewing slowly and languidly. Andrew watched every second, finding himself smiling as Steven slightly grinned, taking it in.

"Pretty good, isn't it?" Andrew clarified, smiling too wide to himself. He was smiling entirely from Steven's reaction; poking fry after fry into Steven's eager open mouth he managed to get quite a reaction in before Steven pushed away, squinted eyes and rooting around; looking utterly cute and innocent in Andrew's opinion even though he'd rather to be caught dead than admit that he characterized anything Steven did as 'cute'.

If Andrew had been sober he would have seen it coming; as it was he had about two seconds to wonder why Steven stopped eating and suddenly gave him a curious, entirely TOO curious look considering how close he'd been to falling into an alcohol induced sleep before the fries.

Andrew had managed to get Steven to eat about half of the plate (forgetting his own hunger entirely in the process) when Steven finally pushed away his hand with a slight laugh and said, "Are you going to feed me this entire plate of fries…..and just watch me while I eat?" He was laughing and so with his impaired judgement Andrew missed the note of question and slight confusion at his actions.

"Yeah….as long as you keeping eating that's the plan" Andrew said off handily, not giving it much though other than that he wanted to see Steven eat some more. When he tried to push the fries back toward Steven's mouth, he stopped him again.

"Why? You got some kind of feeding fetish or something?" Steven asked with a laugh.

Andrew should have noticed the laugh; he should have noticed the teasing tone of Steven's that he knew so well. He should have known it was a joke. But his head was cloudy and foggy all he could think of was shit…..he'd finally gotten caught giving Steven too much attention.

He'd tried to stammer out some response but nothing but a jumble of sounds came out of his lips as his face got hot. It was only then, when it was too late, that Andrew saw Steven's laughing face turn confused. And then accusatory.

"Dude…..I was just joking. But you look so…" Steven said, his own face tinting in embarrassment as he looked away.

So what? Guilty? Embarrassed? Andrew assumed that was what Steven had been thinking but just couldn't manage to say it. And all of those things would have been correct.

"It's not a fetish…"was all Andrew managed to say. It was lame and only made things worse. It only acknowledged that whatever it was it was SOMETHING.

"It's….uh…okay. You don't have to explain it….."Steven said hastily, looking at some distant point across the room; pretty much anywhere except where Andrew was.

It was downhill from there. They both tried to make conversation about something else but it was forced and Andrew had lost his appetite; it wasn't long before they left the bar and Andrew was more than relieved when Steven fell asleep on the way home and he didn't have to force himself to try and act normal when they both knew things were awkward.

And despite the fact that he had so embarrassingly shown his hand, he couldn't resist sitting in the back of car staring at Steven while he slept and thinking about how content and happy he'd been before the ill fate conversation. How cute he'd looked while Andrew had fed him. And there that word was again…..cute. He'd thought it again; he just thanked God he hadn't SAID it by mistake.

What the HELL was wrong with him?

Andrew woke up the next morning in something akin to panic. He instantly remembered the awkward exchange and this time he didn't have the cushion of alcohol to color it anymore. He knew he had to get up and get ready for work but for the longest time he was paralyzed with nerves. He felt like he was back in high school contemplating facing the entire student population who had recently learned his most embarrassing secret. It was a feeling that he hadn't had in a great long while and it was one he most certainly did NOT miss.

Staring up at the ceiling he thought about what would happen now that Steven knew his secret…..or at least thought he knew his secret because even HE didn't fully understand what this THING was. And because he was a 'worst case scenario' person he thought about all of the ways that this embarrassing THING could ruin his life.

Steven had said feeding 'fetish'; that implied that he thought this was something it wasn't. Mainly that there was something dirty about it and though he didn't understand what it WAS he knew that it WASN'T like that. But he had lamely not explained himself; he had said it wasn't a fetish but he didn't get to explain himself so it would only be logical if Steven assumed it WAS. After all, what kind of freak got a thrill of feeding their friends? Him…..apparently he was that kind of freak. Really, he could have blamed it on Steven; he'd started all of this with his food toasting and everything; Andrew had thought it was weird in the beginning. So he COULD blame him…..but what good would that do? None whatsoever…

Whatever it was, it wasn't a fetish; it had nothing to do with sex at all. He just had some weirdly protective and caring THING for Steven that he couldn't quite explain. But he'd not gotten to explain that so he could only assume Steven was thinking he had some feeding kink and that he was on the receiving end of said kink. Which, would be humiliating it and of itself but considering he made FOOD videos as his profession having a reputation like that could be disastrous. And would Steven tell anyone else? Andrew didn't think Steven was like that but who knew with something like this? Andrew meditated several unhappy minutes on thought of walking into Buzzfeed and looking around to see everyone staring at him and just knowing that they all KNEW…

Even if Steven didn't tell anyone else, he would still know and surely that would make things awkward. Would Steven push away from him, thinking he was some kind of pervert? Andrew felt sick to his stomach and realized how very desperately he didn't want that to happen. If he lost his friendship with Steven over some weird Freudian slip of his he would never forgive himself.

Eventually, Andrew forced himself to get up and get ready for work hoping that being productive would occupy his runaway thoughts. Of course it didn't…every step closer to work he got his feeling of dread and nausea increased.

He'd worked himself up thoroughly by the time he walked into the office but after about five minutes he could clearly see that no one seemed to know anything and that his social death wasn't imminent. No one was looking at him strangely or laughing at him; everyone was treating him like he was his normal self and not a sexual deviant.

But he hadn't seen Steven yet…that was the real test of how things were going to be. He didn't know what he was going to say when he saw Steven but a fair amount of his mind was reserved in hoping that maybe Steven had been drunk enough that he wouldn't remember what had happened last night. Well…one could always hope…

Andrew found Steven at his desk, typing on the computer and sipping his coffee slowly. He had his hoodie pulled up and around his face so that all Andrew could see were a few tuffs of wild gray hair sticking out.

Feeling nervous and hating that he felt nervous around Steven who he was normally so comfortable around, Andrew plopped down in the chair next to him.

"Morning, Steven" Andrew said cheerily. Too cheerily….he sounded like a sociopath.

And obviously he was too loud because Steven grabbed his head as he turned toward Andrew. "Morning" he said tiredly, very un-Steven like, even though he was cringing and looked pale, his eyes blood shot.

"Hangover, huh?" Andrew said, making sure to whisper this time.

Steven looked miserable, obviously hung over; Andrew hated that he felt a little more hopeful that maybe Steven wouldn't remember what he had said last night.

Steven looked positively green as he looked at Andrew. "This is why I don't drink….."he said, "I feel like I got ran over a bus. I've thrown up three times this morning" he mumbled before laying his head down on his desk. "I should be in bed….."

Poor Steven…..he simply couldn't hold his liquor. He looked so utterly miserable and weak Andrew was overwhelmed with a strong desire to put Steven to bed and feed him a cup of tea. What the HELL was wrong with him? these thoughts were getting more and more out of control and he didn't know if Steven would be more insulted by Andrew's insistent need to take of him like he was a damn child or something or thinking he was the object of Andrew's perverted food fantasies. Andrew wiped the sweat from his brow and continued.

"Yeah…..yeah you passed out pretty quick last night. You remember falling asleep in the car?" he asked. He had to admit, it was a weak way to ask if he possibly blacked out and forgot Andrew's embarrassing mistake. But he simply couldn't bring himself to say what he really wanted to ask.

"Yeah, I remember" Steven said, every second paling more until he had the pallor of a ghost. Pressing a hand over his mouth he said, "Great…..I think I'm going to throw up cheese fries again….."before rushing off in the direction of the bathrooms.

Well, so much for that…now Andrew felt like the one who needed to be sick. Obviously there was little chance that Steven would remember eating the fries and not remember how Andrew was practically fawning over him while doing it.

Having absolutely nothing to say and not knowing how to fix this, Andrew quickly disappeared off to his desk before Steven could get back from the bathroom because apparently, in addition to everything else, he was now a coward too.


	2. Chapter 2

Andrew thought things would instantly be weird between him and Steven but was glad to see that obviously wasn't the case. The day after the incident Andrew gave Steven a wide berth, as did everyone, because he looked death warmed over and snapped at anyone who talked to him. The next day though he was over his hangover and was his usual bubbly self. He said nothing about the feeding incident and Andrew sure as hell wasn't going to mention it. Things were normal, goofy and playful like they had always been and Andrew had pretty much put the incident out of his mind.

That was, until they next episode of Worth It they shot. After toasting their first bite, Andrew had quickly filled his fork up with pasta again and extended it toward Steven's mouth. He wasn't thinking about it; it was just something they so naturally did that he didn't give it a second thought until Steven reacted in a way that was very NOT natural.

Steven moved back away from Andrew's attempt to feed him so fast the fork and pasta flew across the table. It was something that should have been so dumb but it was something so significant. Steven clearly did not want Andrew to feed him in any way at all. He looked flustered and embarrassed, muttering apologies while trying to clean up the mess like it had been an accident and nothing more but Andrew knew better; even Adam gave Andrew a quizzical look behind the camera that said, 'What's that about?'. It didn't help that Steven scooted his chair slightly away from Andrew after said incident; he was sure that Steven didn't realize he noticed but he did. And it hurt.

Andrew tried to go on like everything was okay but he knew that he was only going through the motions for the rest of the episode. His stomach was churning and the food he was trying to force down his throat felt like a heavy stone in his belly despite the delicacy of the food. Steven was his usual, active and talkative self on camera and it might have fooled the fans but it did not fool Andrew; he actively kept his distance from Andrew and did not attempt to play with Andrew or toast their food together after Andrew had tried to feed him. The second that they were off camera and back in the car, it was obvious that something wasn't right. Andrew felt like a dark cloud was hanging over him and even Steven didn't try to talk to him.

This wasn't going to work…Andrew felt sick and miserable and though he thought it was a bit crazy to confront Steven about the strangeness between them he knew he really didn't have much of choice. He couldn't stand this distant awkwardness. Surely he couldn't make things worse than they already were, right?

Well, of course he COULD make things worse and he'd nearly talked himself out of it by the time they reached the office. But just nearly…steeling himself he grabbed Steven's wrist to stop him as he left the car quickly in an effort to run toward the building. Steven jumped slightly at the contact but at least he didn't try to run away.

"Let's go for a walk before we go back inside" Andrew said as firmly as he could manage. He didn't feel very assertive at the moment but he wanted Steven to know that he wasn't really asking; he was going to insist if need be.

"You want to go for a walk? Its freezing" Steven said, pulling his coat around him as if to play up the fact so he'd have a good argument for not being alone with Andrew.

Andrew's nerves increased but he held his ground. "This won't take long" he insisted, taking off down the street and desperately hoping that Steven would follow him. Luckily, he did.

They walked down the street in silence for several moments, Andrew breathing in the cold air so fast it stung his chest and yet somehow he was still sweating profusely underneath his coat. Looking out the corner of his eye he could see that Steven's face was totally impassive and it gave him no clues at all to if he was freaking out internally or not. Even though this perhaps should have calmed Andrew, it only served to make him freak out more; his shirt was soaked with nervous sweat and he was glad his coat was there to cover it up.

Andrew could think of a million ways in which he could screw this up but rather than waxing on about it until he gave himself an anxiety attack, he just forced himself to speak. "Steven…..I know things got weird that night we went out drinking but I wanted to say-" Andrew started. But what exactly he wanted to say he didn't get to. He was just beginning to feel braver and surer of himself when Steven stopped him dead in his tracks, hastily speaking over him.

"Andrew, you don't have to explain, really" Steven said, trying to sound understanding but really Andrew could tell that he was uncomfortable at the prospect of Andrew talking about what he must have thought had been a window into his perverted sex life. "It's okay…..I'm not judging you or anything. Everyone's got something weird they're into. It's fine."

Contrary to what Steven was saying about not judging him, Andrew felt instantly judged. In Steven's mind Andrew had some weird food fetish and now that he knew that he wouldn't let Andrew anywhere near him when he ate. Andrew felt a rush of anger at being judged, especially for being judged for something he wasn't even doing and it was just the passionate flush of heat he needed to get his point across.

"This isn't some weird sex thing!" Andrew said hotly, moving from Steven's side to stand in front of him so he had to look into his eyes.

Steven's face flushed in embarrassment as several people walking down the street stared and tittered at Andrew's outburst. Andrew didn't care; he had Steven's attention now and that's all that mattered.

"Then what is it? I don't understand…" Steven said simply, innocently. The judgement and weirdness was gone and left behind was the old Steven he knew; not one who was looking at him like he had the plague. He was just looking at him like he was his friend.

Wordlessly, Andrew walked into a nearby Starbuck's eagerly followed by Steven; he had his attention now. As they ordered some coffee and found the furthest table away from the door, tucked into the corner, Andrew had a few minutes to gather his jumbled thoughts and try to think of the best way to explain it. The simple truth was he had no idea what this really was and he figured that honesty was the best thing, so he simply said this.

"Honestly…I don't know what it is. But I know it's not a sex thing; I swear it's not like that. I just really like ….feeding you….." Andrew said. He felt insanely uncomfortable, as if he had divulged a deep dark secret instead of talking about something they had been doing for months.

Steven was sipping his coffee pensively across the table. The cold had made his cheeks overly red and Andrew resisted the urge to tell Steven to drink all of his coffee to warm him up properly. "I like it too" Steven admitted, staring out the window at the foot traffic on the street before looking at Andrew with a rare serious expression. "But…..I feel like it's more than just that…to you?"

Andrew felt like Steven was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt; he could say that it really wasn't anything more than that. But they both knew it wasn't true and Andrew wasn't going to damage their friendship further by lying now.

"I just really want to take care of you" Andrew admitted, staring at his coffee cup and almost wishing the earth would swallow him whole. Well, he'd said it now…..he couldn't take it back.

Whatever Steven was expecting this wasn't it; he did a double take and stuttered. "W-w-what?" he asked, as if totally taken aback.

Andrew was just going to rip the Band-Aid off; painful but quick. Except this was like ripping a Band-Aid off his heart to expose something incredibly vulnerable about him and that really sucked. "I said…..I want to take care of you." Andrew said, still unable to look him in the eye. "And I know you don't NEED me to take care of you…I'm not trying to say you're weak or anything. I just…want to. And I…..I don't know…I guess when I get to feed you it's almost like I AM taking care of you. I'm not a pervert…I'm not thinking anything dirty when I'm doing it…..I'm just…..it just makes me happy to see you happy. Makes me happy to kind of take care of you….."

The silence was deafening; Andrew didn't think Steven was ever going to speak. Andrew waited for what felt like an eternity before he gained the courage to look up from the table to look at Steven who still hadn't said anything. Andrew had always known Steven to be transparent in that he clearly wore his feelings on his face; he simply didn't have a poker face. At least that's what he thought until this very moment; right now Steven was doing a very good job of staring at him looking totally emotionless. Andrew felt his pulse pick up; he could practically feel his blood pressure rise in worry. Steven had to be thinking SOMETHING…..why wasn't he SAYING anything?

Andrew waited until he couldn't possibly stand it any longer and burst out, "Steven…please say something. You're freaking me out….."

Andrew thought maybe it was just taking a long time for it to sink in and when it did he'd bolt; he was pleasantly surprised to see a small grin pull at the corners of Steven's lips at his slightly frantic plea.

"Sorry…I just…I was just taking it in…." he said, giving Andrew the slightest glance before looking away again.

If it wasn't for the smile Andrew would have been freaking out; what was that supposed to mean? Taking it in like 'I'm absorbing the fact that my friend is a freak?' or taking it in like, 'I'm flattered at the attention?' Andrew, the inner cynic that he was, was betting on the former.

"Listen…I don't want to freak you out" Andrew said, "I only said something because you asked and I could tell things were weird between us. You're my friend…..I consider you one of my best friends. And I don't want to do something to change that. So…..you can forget I ever said it. And I won't be weird about. I just don't want you to think….differently…of me."

It was a big admission from Andrew; almost as big as the one he'd already said. They were close enough, sure, what fans even called 'domestic' about in their videos. But that didn't mean they had heart to hearts like this…..ever. And if they ever had, Andrew was sure that it would have been Steven doing the sharing, not him; he wasn't the sharing type. He was the bury your feelings and obsessive over them type.

"I'm not freaked out" Steven said after a pause that almost gave Andrew an aneurism, "I just…..well….no one's ever said anything like that to me before. No one's ever said that they wanted to take care of me before. Well, like no one since I was a little kid or anything. I mean, it is a little strange…..but it's nice too? Like, how do you want to take care of me except the obvious…..feeding…..thing…."

Andrew was beyond relieved that Steven wasn't reacting poorly but he wasn't prepared to answer that question; mostly because he didn't know the answer and partly because the things that popped into his head were too weird to say out loud.

"I think today's been…..strange…..enough. Let's just stick with the food stuff right now" Andrew said with a slight smile, hoping Steven would mirror it.

Steven looked slightly disappointed that Andrew didn't elaborate which kind of made him wish he had. He recovered quickly though; smiling widely he said, "Yeah….okay."

Andrew sat back in his chair, finally feeling like he could breathe fully for the first time since they'd gotten there. He felt a rush of what almost felt like adrenaline rush tremble through his hands and feet. He hadn't totally ruined his social life or his friendship with Steven.

At least, not today he hadn't.

Nothing really changed over the next couple of days other than it was obvious Steven was no longer keeping his distance from him. The episode from that day was painful for Andrew to watch because he was so obviously not himself but he was thankful that bit with his failed feeding attempt was cut from the final video. He didn't need fans to analyze it when he could barely even bear to think about it.

He and Steven didn't talk about it after the discussion in the Starbuck's; Steven didn't bring it up and Andrew was still trying to figure out exactly what he'd say if Steven did bring it up. Eventually he came to the conclusion that even if he did know what to say, he wasn't sure it was something that could be said. He was thankful that Steven didn't think he was weird and after their conversation he felt like there was something like a door open between them. It left the possibility of something more being open there and to Andrew that was enough right now; he didn't really want to talk about what could happen. It was just enough that it COULD. This was reinforced when they shot their next episode of Worth It; when Andrew didn't attempt to feed him during the whole episode, Steven leaned in while he was talking and stole the last bite right off his fork. It wasn't unusual to anyone else; it just mattered that it told Andrew things were okay between them again.

But it should have been the indication that Steven was going to take a more hands on approach to this. Two weeks after their strange discussion, Andrew was at his desk when he felt a familiar pair of hands attack him from behind, gripping his shoulders.

"Andrew! Are you doing anything this weekend?" Steven said by way of his usual, energetic, bubbling greeting that always got straight to the point of what he wanted to say.

Andrew tore his attention away from his computer screen as Steven perched himself on the top of Andrew's desk. Andrew could tell by the sly grin on Steven's face that he was up to something.

"Nothing particular but I gather you have some sort of idea to change that?" Andrew said, trying and failing to hold in a slight grin himself. Steven's enthusiasm was sometimes contagious.

"Well…"Steven said, grinning wider and tilting his head slightly to the side, "I was thinking since you like cooking so much…..I could come over and you could cook something for me."

"Oh, you're volunteering me to cook for you, are you?" Andrew asked curiously, not seeing it at first. Steven had never asked that of him before; it wasn't until he saw the deep blush coming up on Steven's face that he began to understand.

"Yeah…you're such a good cook after all" Steven said, smiling broadly but his face was positively red now. "You could cook and I could watch you. And then….well…..when you're done you could help me eat it."

Oh…it hit Andrew so hard that he instantly felt a rush of heat to his face and an excited quickening of his heart. Steven wanted him to cook for him…..and to feed him and this was his delicate way of asking for it. Andrew tried his best to hold his grin in but his face flushed and he knew it was obvious he smiling just a little too broadly. Not only was he instantly excited at the prospect of feeding a whole meal Steven (and being able to really relish the moment since Steven knew it was a 'thing' now) but he was possibly even more excited at the idea that Steven was specifically requesting it.

"Well, I'm not doing anything anyway so why not?" Andrew said, trying to act cool, like he didn't care. But he could tell by the smile on Steven's face that he didn't pull it off. He could tell by the smile on Steven's face that Andrew's excitement was a bit too obvious.

But that was okay….

It was only one day but to Andrew it felt simultaneously too long to wait and also like there wasn't enough time. He didn't know why every time he thought about his impending meeting with Steven he felt slightly sick but excited; it wasn't like they'd never hung out together at Andrew's house and it wasn't even the first time he had cooked dinner for him. But even as he thought this, he knew that it was different. Maybe the action wasn't new but the feelings were and that was what was causing Andrew to sweat buckets as he pushed his shopping cart around the grocery store the day of their meeting. He dropped about five items in the store from pure nerves and while this gained plenty of attention from surrounding shoppers he was only thankful that most everything was in plastic and not glass; he surely didn't want to attract anything more than the most basic glance. He was plenty nervous enough.

Steven was coming for dinner but Andrew somehow found himself making breakfast food. He knew that Steven would get a kick out of that since he'd been so opposed to idea of 'brunch' when they'd started to do that episode. But, of course, he'd come around…Honestly, though, his motivation behind making brunch for Steven in what felt like a very significant meal, had nothing to do with the way that meal had tasted and everything about the way that it had FELT. There had been so much feeding that episode, both on camera and off; Steven opening his mouth and coming at him like a baby bird, eager and open had filled Andrew with that warmness that he didn't understand then. And then there was Steven's goofy, over the top sweetness that he recalled fans calling 'tooth rotting fluff'; Steven's gushing compliments and constant touching and hanging on Andrew made him way warmer than the adult beverages were even capable doing. Even so, the first act of Andrew's cooking escapades was to make a pitcher of mimosas….and then proceed to drink the what was left from the bottle of wine straight from the bottle while standing in his kitchen in his apron.

Andrew had begun to mix the batter for the pancakes and the fruit sauce to go on top when there was a knock at his door; he was so skittish that he ended up dropping an egg on the floor. He quickly scooped the mess up with a paper towel and wiped his hands on his apron, wondering why his hands were shaking so much when all he was doing was answering the door to meet Steven, a friend he'd known for quite some time now.

Andrew answered the door with a quivering hand, feeling excited and overly sweaty. Steven was standing on his doorstep, looking smiley and entirely too relaxed and normal for Andrew's tastes; it was only when Andrew took a second look that he could see the slight beads of sweat on his brow, the slightly paler than normal color of his cheeks…perhaps Steven was just as nervous as Andrew was.

"Helloooo….Andrew" Steven said in his characteristically cheery and bright voice. Only Andrew knew him well enough to be able to detect the slight nerves in his voice.

"Hi" Andrew wanted to say more but found that his tongue seemed permanently stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Steven slid into the room, looking around as if he'd never been here before; it was slightly uncomfortable to watch since he was normally so comfortable here. Andrew's heart was racing more than it should have been and Andrew tried to not make it obvious he was wiping sweaty palms on his apron. Steven was bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets; he was still smiling widely but Andrew could tell that he felt uncomfortable and didn't know what to do.

"Uh…..you can uh…..sit down and watch TV if you want. Make yourself comfortable…or you can sit in the kitchen. Keep me company…."Andrew managed to stutter out in what felt like a very uncomfortable monologue. He was pleased to see Steven visibly relax despite his awkwardness.

"I'll keep you company. I wouldn't want you to be lonely" Steven said overly cheerful. He smiled broadly and Andrew couldn't help but do the same.

"Yeah….it's all about keeping me company and not even a little bit about possibly catching a taste here and there while you wait, right?" Andrew asked with a grin.

Steven tried not to look guilty and failed. "Well….if something needs tasting….." he said. Andrew couldn't fully suppress his laughter at that.

Andrew was pleased that Steven was going to watch him rather than stay in the other room. Already things were going well; Andrew just hoped that he managed focus on what he was doing and not his surprising amount of nerves.

Steven walked into the kitchen, obviously smelling the air and taking a look around the kitchen. A wide grin spread across his face. "Are you making….brunch?" he asked slyly, looking just as pleased as Andrew thought he would.

"Maybe…."Andrew said non-committedly, going over to the bowl of batter and beginning to stir it again.

"I thought you hated brunch" Steven said with a pleased smile as he sat down at the table, watching Steven with more interest than his simple actions warranted.

"I used to…..but as I recall, SOMEONE changed that" Andrew said, intent on his work. He could almost feel Steven's smile without even looking at him.


	3. Chapter 3

It actually turned out to feel surprisingly normal, despite himself; while Andrew cooked, he and Steven talked. But it wasn't the awkward kind of talking that he had anticipated, especially with how it had felt when he had showed up. They just easily fell into talking about the normal things they would always have discussed; work, friends, family. They didn't talk about what exactly it was that they were doing here right now and Andrew was relieved; he was excited but he felt over talking it would have made it awkward. Still, he knew they'd have to discuss it when it came time to eat.

When everything was finally finished, Andrew set all of the dishes on the table. It was only when he saw Steven's wide eyed expression did he realize he may have went overboard a bit. Pancakes with fresh made fruit topping and whipped cream, fried chicken and waffles, two different types of bacon and a breakfast burrito that was probably big enough to be a meal on its own; he'd pretty much tried to make every good breakfast food they'd ever eaten together. Andrew felt a bit sheepish looking at it; he was relieved when Steven didn't comment on it.

"Wow…..well…..this sure looks good" Steven said politely, taking in the mass of food Andrew had thrown in front of him; he had to be wondering how he was going to eat all of this.

"I….uh….hope you like it" Andrew said, sitting in the chair next to him, suddenly feeling a wave of adrenaline course through his legs, making them shaky and uneasy. And just like that…..he was anxious again.

"I'm sure I will…..it looks fantastic." Steven said. His hands were setting a bit awkwardly in his lap as he surveyed the feast in front of him.

Of course Andrew knew why Steven was awkward; it was the same reason he was feeling a rush of nerves right now. Steven was sitting like that because he was WAITING…

And he was waiting on Andrew…

All of a sudden it hit Andrew like a wave and he felt his mouth go dry and his palms flood with sweat, as if every ounce of liquid in his body was being made into sweat. He was excited; of course he was. He wanted this; in fact he'd made things awkward FOR this. But that didn't mean he wasn't on the verge of shitting himself worrying about making a mistake. He knew that he might present a very nonchalant façade to some people but that didn't mean he didn't know how to worry internally to an unhealthy level; he could think up a possible million different wrong case scenarios in about three seconds.

Looking at Steven, sitting so calmly and patiently, so expectantly, Andrew was suddenly was very AWARE. He was aware that something that he had been thinking entirely too much about lately, something he'd been waiting for and anticipating, was about to happen and he hoped that it was as good as he'd been anticipating. What exactly were his expectations? Hell, if he knew…he knew he had a fascination with taking care of Steven but even he didn't know what his ultimate expectation was here. That was, somehow, simultaneously freeing and terrifying.

And then there was Steven…he looked so open and trusting, so ready to follow Andrew. It was a bit unsettling…and more than a bit exciting. It was unsettling because Andrew did not see himself as someone that anyone should be looking to for guidance. He wasn't a leader; he wasn't a push over either but he tended to go with the flow in most situations. Any time anyone looked to him for guidance of any kind he tended to wonder what the hell was wrong with them. And he SURE didn't know what he was doing in THIS situation. But at the same time it was exciting; this was some sort of strange cross roads in their relationship and even though Andrew didn't trust himself not to fuck it up, Steven obviously did.

This revelation was enough to curb Andrew's nerves so that he was mostly excited and only a little bit nervous; unbidden he had that awkward 'first date' sensation and tried to squash it because this was nothing like that. This was…..strange….weird…..fucked up…great…

"Well, I hope you appreciate it. I don't cook for just anyone, you know." Andrew said, trying to sound joking but there was still that slight tinge of nerves coloring it.

"I know…..I feel very….special" Steven admitted, hands still kitted tightly together in his lap.

Andrew could tell that he almost didn't say it; he was certainly nervous enough and his cheeks were surely red. But he DID say it…..and it made Andrew feel something warm and happy to his toes.

"Well, Mr. Special….what would you like to try first?" Andrew asked, grabbing a fork and hoping that he sounded goofy and not cringy.

Steven seemed to be too immersed in the food to notice. "Everything looks so good; I'm not sure I could pick. Why don't you pick for me? I'd rather you pick for me" Steven said, looking up from the food and giving Andrew a pleasant, slightly goofy smile.

Why didn't Steven Lim just KILL him now? Andrew was going to file this under the list of things that he didn't know he needed because DAMN…everything in his entire body warmed at that; the sly smile Steven had, the total surrender of choice. Andrew thought about those times they'd been in a restaurant and Andrew had had that compelling feeling of wanting to read the menu to Steven or when they'd been somewhere and he'd wanted to order something for Steven simply because he knew he'd like it. Hell, he'd done that on the fry episode; that Oreo monster shake had Steven's name all over it and he knew it. And his instincts weren't wrong….he KNEW Steven and he knew what he liked. But that extra push, that IMPLICATION…Steven asking him to pick for him rather than him just wanting to made the difference. Did he have some sort of power kink? Andrew didn't think so, especially not what he would call a 'kink'; that came back to his knowing this feeding thing wasn't some dirty thing either. But did he LIKE choosing for Steven or picking things for him? Yes…..yes he most certainly did.

"Well, if I'm choosing, I'm going to go for the obvious" Andrew said, proud that his voice didn't shake, surprised he sounded so sure, "Before you get all food drunk you have to try my mimosas"

Andrew put out two glasses and poured himself and Steven each a mimosa, surprised that his hands didn't shake when he did it. Grabbing Steven's glass, Andrew hesitated for what he hoped was only for a second. This wasn't exactly something they'd done before. They'd drunk out of the same cup before and he'd fed Steven food before but he hadn't ever physically given him a drink. He was idly wondering why he'd chosen this to be first.

Telling himself that he was being ridiculous and paranoid, Andrew just went for it, putting the glass to Steven's lips and tipping back. He drank quickly and it was good…..for all of five seconds. Then Steven was sputtering and coughing, mimosa going everywhere. Andrew quickly dropped the glass and felt his face turn red; good going idiot…

"I'm so sorry!" Andrew said, panicked, grabbing a towel and sopping up the liquid from Steven's face and shirt. He was mortified; the first thing he'd tried to he'd utterly failed at!

"I'm sorry…..so sorry" Andrew kept apologizing profusely, feeling sweat bead around his hair line. He rubbed Steven's shirt and wiped his face roughly even when all trace of the drink was gone.

"Andrew…..Andrew…its fine!" Steven said. Andrew wasn't looking at him but he could hear a laugh in his tone. It was enough to make for Andrew stop, his hand and the towel resting on Steven's chest as their eyes met.

When Andrew allowed himself to look into Steven's face, all he could see was that everything was FINE. Steven had said that of course, that everything was okay and that he wasn't bothered by it, but seeing it in his face meant much more. Steven was laughing, his cheeks pink from the amusement of the situation, his eyes soft and pleased and looking right at Andrew.

"Andrew…..its fine. You didn't do anything wrong. I just…..wasn't ready for how…strong…..your mimosas were. I just choked a bit" Steven said with a self -deprecating laugh.

It took a few seconds for Andrew to get it; he blamed the novelty of the situation for why his brain seemed so slow. Steven was a lightweight and Andrew had a bit of a high hand for how much alcohol he put into his drinks. When he realized the problem he felt himself laughing. "You know me…..you shouldn't be surprised" Andrew said, just pleased he hadn't screwed this up already though he did set the drink aside, aware of Steven's lightweightedness. "Even so, let's move on to something tastier. You might not like my mimosas but I guarantee you'll love my pancakes"

Andrew carefully cut a section of pancakes off the larger portion, making sure to dip them in fruit sauce and whipped cream. This was something Andrew was really proud of; he'd made it several times and tweaked the recipe each time and found that it had improved each time. He slowly moved the bite toward Steven's mouth, relishing the eager way he leaned in, as if he couldn't wait to taste what Andrew had made. His lips connected with the bite and took it in with one big swipe, leaving cream on his lips. Andrew held his hand under Steven's mouth until he took the bite, ready to catch any fallen food, his eyes trained on Steven's reaction.

And he was definitely NOT disappointed. Steven's eyes closed, his head fell back and he was beginning to do that adorable slight MOANING thing he did when something was really good. Andrew was already grinning when Steven said, "Andrew…..ANDREW….."

Andrew felt a rush of heated delight run down to his toes making him feel like he'd ran 5 miles but without the fatigue and sweating, just the adrenaline. He knew Steven would go on so he simply waited in anticipation.

"Andrew…ANDREW…."Steven said again, pounding the table with his fist. "You've been holding out on me"

Andrew could feel his face flush with pleasure; he was already cutting off another generous slice of pancakes to feed Steven. "That good, huh?" Andrew asked with a grin but rather than waiting for an answer he pushed the big bite into Steven's already open mouth.

And there it was again….the moaning thing, the head tilt, the raptures of "This is so good!" from Steven again…Andrew tried to be his usual serious self but found that he couldn't stop grinning. He'd always got pleasure out of seeing Steven react this way to food but it was a completely different thing to know it was food HE had made that made Steven react that way. That deep thing, whatever it was, that needed so desperately to take care of Steven was thoroughly pleased.

Andrew fed Steven several more bites of the pancakes and made him take a small drink of mimosa to wash it down (Steven only sputtered a bit at the taste this time, no doubt trying to be kind which warmed Andrew more than it should have) before he decided to let him try something else before he filled up entirely on pancakes.

"Now, I know my pancakes are utterly spectacular" Andrew said with a fake pompous tone that he knew Steven would appreciate, "but you've got to try something else. How about some chicken and waffles"

Steven, who looked already red in the cheeks and slightly food drunk, clutched the pancake plate like it was a life line. "You can't take the pancakes! They're too delicious!"

Considering Steven had eaten some of the most expensive food BuzzFeed could buy, Andrew's ego was getting quite a good stroke from this reaction and still couldn't stop smiling. Distracted by a bit of whipped cream hanging off Steven's lips and bravely bolstered by Steven's enthusiastic remarks, he reached up and wiped away the bit of cream with his finger and said, "I promise I'll give the pancakes back, though you might not want to have them after you try my fried chicken." It was smug, sure, but he almost felt he earned it with Steven puffing him up so.

"Well, I don't want to say goodbye to the pancakes but I'm ready to try some of your hot honey" Steven said.

Andrew felt himself blush; it was so bad that he could feel it in his ears but he couldn't help it. He thought about that silly comment he'd made on the fried chicken episode about people calling him that in high school. Steven had called him out on it of course but yet here it was again. He knew he suddenly didn't care if anyone ever called him that but Steven.

So, he was embarrassed about that but he was equally embarrassed about something else. He realized he still had the bit of whipped cream on his fingers and there was nowhere graceful to wipe it; he couldn't wipe it on his clothes. Left with no choice he licked it off his fingers, trying to pretend that he didn't do it. Steven had the good grace to pretend he hadn't seen it but he was flushing again so he'd obviously seen Andrew lick off food that had been on his mouth moments ago. Somehow it seemed too INTIMATE.

Ready to quickly push past the awkward incident, Andrew grabbed the plate of chicken and waffles toward them and picked up the best looking piece of chicken. "Alright….have a taste of that and tell me it's not hot honey" Andrew said proudly, putting the piece of chicken to Steven's mouth.

Andrew knew his fried chicken wasn't as good as the kinds they'd had on the show but he was feeling confident Steven would like it all the same as he leaned forward and tore into it, the crispy skin making a ridiculously loud crunchy sound. Andrew watched him, trying not to look too eager, waiting for a good reaction. And of course he wasn't disappointed.

Before Andrew could take the piece of chicken away, Steven took a few more bites in quick succession before looking at Andrew with his eyes alight. "Okay…..I take it back…this chicken really is hot honey. How do you get it to be simultaneously sweet and so hot I can barely stand it?" he asked in awe.

Andrew smiled. "I can't possibly give away all of my secrets. You might learn to cook for yourself" he teased. Well, he was kind of teasing. He didn't plan on telling Steven how to make it but he hoped that it didn't show that what he was really saying was he desperately hoped that Steven wouldn't learn how to cook like him because then he wouldn't need Andrew to do it. He hoped he didn't show that there was still the doubt in his mind that the novelty of Andrew feeding him was enough for him.

"Trust me…..I don't plan on learning to…..cook…..anytime soon" Steven said shyly. It could have just meant just cooking but the blush and the way that Steven wouldn't quite look at his face was enough to convince Andrew there was a bit of deeper meaning behind it. He suddenly felt warm all over.

There was a long, meaningful pause before Steven finally had enough sense to break it; Andrew wouldn't have known what to say. "Okay…..okay…..gimme" Steven said, suddenly reaching for the chicken again. Andrew playfully slapped his hand away; HE was the one doing the feeding.

"Don't grab…..I've got you" Andrew said, eagerly giving Steven another bite.


	4. Chapter 4

It turned out that all of Andrew's anxiety and hours spent worrying about how the night would go were all for nothing; if he'd been given the ability to plan the perfect outcome of this strange experiment he wasn't sure that he could have planned anything better. The obsessive care he'd put into making each dish obviously was worth it because with every bite he took Steven had some obvious and profuse way of telling Andrew how good it was whether by moaning, banging the table or various versions of saying, "this is amazing!" And while that was obviously gratifying because Andrew was a bit vain just like everyone is that wasn't the best part of it. It was, of course, the feeding itself. Steven didn't make a move to do anything for himself but rather asked politely when he wanted something out of reach or eagerly took a bite out of something that was still in Andrew's hand when he was being too slow. Andrew had thought before this night that maybe he could get tired of that 'baby bird' like way that Steven opened his mouth and waited for Andrew to feed him but apparently no amount of feeding could make him get tired of it because after dozens of times he still found it unbelievably adorable. But of course he still was no closer to ever letting Steven know that he would characterize any of his actions as 'adorable' because he hadn't lost total control of his senses.

Andrew took a few bites of various foods here and there and drank a few sips of his drink but not much. He found that he was existing much more on the energy of adrenaline and excitement than food and he only drank enough to give him that pleasant glow of warmth because he sure as HELL wanted to remember every single detail of this night.

It was obvious when Steven was clearly done but that didn't mean that Andrew wasn't going to try to feed him a few last bites. Leaning back in his chair, his face red and a bit sweaty but satisfied, Steven put his hand up to push away the last bite of the pancakes that Andrew was trying to push toward his mouth. It was the first time he'd not taken the offered bite and that's how Andrew knew he was done. But that didn't mean he was going to give up instantly, obviously.

"Come on, Steven…one more bite," Andrew coaxed with a smile, moving the fork invitingly around in front of Steven's face.

"No…..no more…..I'm going to explode." Steven said, rubbing his stomach with drama but he was still grinning.

"It's the last bite of the pancakes. You know…..THE pancakes. I think you said they were the, I quote, 'the best damn pancakes I've ever tasted'" Andrew said with smug grin, recalling the moment. "I mean, come on…these pancakes managed to get a rare Steven Lim curse word. You KNOW you want to eat the last bite and then be done"

"Hmmm…..funny…..I don't remember saying that" Steven said, giving Andrew a sly look, still leaning back in his chair as if he wasn't going to eat it. Of course, Andrew knew him well enough to know that he WAS going to eat it he was just a bit embarrassed at how enthusiastic he'd been about it.

"Well, lucky for you this isn't a Worth It episode so we can't turn back the recording for me to prove it, but I'm pretty damn sure that happened" Andrew said. He waved the pancakes back and forth. "Come on…..chef knows best; eat it."

Andrew could always get him to take one last bite when he said there was simply no way he could possibly eat another bite. Leaning forward, a bit slowly and painfully, Steven took the last bite of pancakes off the fork with an expression that was half pain, half pleasure, as if the effort cost him quite a bit of agony but the food reminded him that it was worth it.

"I'm…..so….full….."Steven said, sitting back and holding his stomach. His shirt rode up enough that Andrew could see a bit of his exposed distended belly and he looked at for what he felt was an embarrassingly long amount of time.

"Of course you are…..that's what a really good meal will do to you" Andrew said, feeling a bit cheeky with satisfaction, as if they didn't regularly eat amazing food in large quantities.

"A couple more meals like this and I'll be so big I won't be able to move" Steven said, holding his stomach as if it were a bomb that might go off any moment.

Andrew felt his body was betraying him; he felt a flush of color to his face at the subtle implication that they would be doing this again. "I'll make sure you eat a salad from time to time" Andrew said, trying for teasing but it came out with that same indirect note of suggestion. When he looked at Steven, he was giving him a small smile that felt somehow significant.

Andrew began gathering up the dishes to distract him from the heaviness of the moment. "Why don't you go to the living room and lay down on the couch and I'll be there after I clean up the kitchen. We can watch a movie or something" Andrew said. His voice didn't sound much like he felt it should. It sounded nothing like him; it sounded awkward and nervous and he didn't know why.

"Okay…..okay. Sounds good" Steven said, leaning up, looking painfully full.

Andrew noticed a bit of cheese on the side of Steven's mouth and couldn't resist the urge to take a towel and wipe it off; he was, after all, allowed to take care of Steven now by some miracle turn of events. He was pleased to see that Steven didn't seem annoyed by this overly domestic action; if anything, Andrew might have thought he looked pleased.

Steven slowly waddled his way toward the living room and moments later Andrew heard the buzz of the television. Andrew cleaned up the colossal mess in the kitchen as quickly as he could which consequently meant that it ended up somehow messier than before; the table was clear but the trash can was overflowing, the sink was stacked with messy dishes and his soiled apron was thrown somewhere on the counter. This was a problem for tomorrow; tonight he was far too happy to care.

Grabbing a mug of what was left of the drinks, Andrew made his way into the living room to find Steven leaning forward on the couch, still cradling his stomach watching television. Andrew flopped down on the couch next to him heavily, eliciting a slight moan of pain from Steven. That shouldn't have pleased Andrew but for some reason it did. He wasn't a pervert, he knew that but there was the slightest chance he was a bit twisted.

"I told you to lie down" Andrew said, taking a drink. "That can't possibly be comfortable."

"I can't…..my stomach hurts too much" Steven said. "If I lay down I might puke."

Well, Andrew did feel a bit bad now; maybe he'd overdone it. Steven could be a bit dramatic but there was a very strong possibility that he had pushed Steven to eat too much. He'd seen Steven eat a lot but this probably was still the most he'd ever eaten. Yeah, he definitely felt a bit bad…..so of course this was time he made a joke.

"You probably just need to burp…..or fart. Or both" Andrew said with a bit of a laugh. Well, he was trying to make Steven laugh but still, it WAS actually sound advice.

Unfortunately, Steven didn't laugh like Andrew hoped but he did open his mouth as if trying to force a burp out but nothing happened. "I can't" Steven said after a while.

"Well, I could burp you if you wanted; an extra feature of the Ilnyckyj full service kitchen. We cook for you, feed you, burp you and put you to bed" Andrew said with a hearty laugh. It was, of course, a joke.

Steven looked at him with a flat expression so that Andrew couldn't tell if what he said next was a joke or not. "Burp me….what like burping a baby?" Steven asked.

The wine in Andrew's stomach fell down like a stone. Suddenly, yes…..yes that was exactly what he DID mean. It had been a joke, he'd just said it as a joke but now that Steven had implanted that idea into his head there it was to stay. As crazy as it sounded, Steven was hurting and Andrew wanted to do exactly what he could do to make it go away. And this might just work.

"Well, I imagine the concept is the same" Andrew said, feeling embarrassed for suggesting it but also excited for some reason. "We could try it…..if you want."

Steven turned toward Andrew, looking unsure but grinning slightly. "Uh….okay. What do you want me to do?" he asked.

Andrew couldn't ever recall actually having burped a baby but he knew it was simple. Of course, that was with a tiny infant that you could put in your arms. "Um….you could just….uh….lean up against me and I'll….uh…..pat you on the back." Andrew said uncertainly. He still couldn't quite believe this whole evening was happening.

Steven looked at Andrew with hesitancy for a few seconds before he awkwardly climbed onto him. And 'climbing onto him' WAS the right way to phrase it…Andrew was convinced he must have given Steven more mimosas than he realized because in an awkward scrambling of limbs Steven was now sitting on top of his lap, facing him, his chest against Andrew's, his head on Andrew's shoulder.

So…..this was…..awkward. But yet, Andrew didn't hate it, not even close. It was…..strange and new and yet it was somehow so Steven. For Steven to feel so poorly that he climbed into his lap like an overgrown child so that Andrew could make him feel better, believing that Andrew actually had that power. That strange thing inside Andrew that needed to take care of Steven was so warmed Andrew was surprised he didn't start glowing or something.

"So….like this?" Steven asked, as if to clarify. But it was obvious he didn't have much intention of moving. He was clearly settling in, his hands resting against Andrew's sides, nestling his head against his shoulder to get comfortable.

"Yeah…..yeah…..this is good…..fine" Andrew managed to say.

It was strange and new and because of this, Andrew noticed everything. Steven was heavier than he looked, probably loaded as he was with pounds of Andrew's heavy cooking, and though he was practically smothering Andrew into the couch, it didn't feel unpleasant; his warm weight felt comforting against him. He could smell Steven's strong scent of cologne, which wasn't his typical scent but something new, mingled with the scent of breakfast imbedded in his soft shirt which was like its own perfume. Steven's gray hair, wildly sticking out everywhere, rubbed against Andrew cheek slightly, feeling as soft as baby hair or a fuzzy blanket. How did he get his hair that soft; it should be illegal for a grown man to have hair that soft.

Andrew shook his head; he was DEFINITLY letting his thoughts stray and Steven was still just lying there…he had to do something or Steven was going to think he was being weird. Which, he WAS being weird, but he didn't want Steven to think that. His hands were just lying awkwardly on the couch, as if afraid to touch Steven and yet he still had this irrational, strong urge to wrap his arms around Steven hug him. He'd probably puke, Andrew told himself, letting that be the reason he didn't do it.

Andrew lightly put his hand on Steven's back and gently began to pat him. It felt strange; every time he hit Steven he could feel everywhere Steven was move up against him; his chest would hit Andrew's, his head would rub against Andrew's face, he'd feel that slight move of Steven's legs against his own even though Andrew could tell Steven was trying to keep from moving there by anchoring his legs against Andrew. There was no way this was probably going to work…..

"You can hit me harder" Steven said, his words muffled against Andrew's shoulder.

Andrew had to thank God Steven couldn't see his face at that moment. Steven had a way of saying things innocently and yet they were phrased anything but innocently; or maybe it was just that Andrew had a dirty mind. You can hit me harder…Andrew had to close his eyes and silently laugh, hoping Steven couldn't feel the shaking of his chest. Andrew silently began to pat Steven's back harder, not trusting himself to talk for several moments.

"Just don't fart on me" Andrew teased, pounding at Steven's back. He had to make a joke to distract himself and not get too warmly content with Steven's heavy warmth against him.

Steven finally laughed and Andrew was satisfied. He could feel Steven shake with laughter against him. "I'm not going to fart on you" he promised, his words clipped between laughter.

After a while, it was quiet again, the quiet drone of the TV only punctuated by the beat of his hand against Steve's back. Andrew was feeling warm, tired and unbelievably CONTENT…he closed his eyes and just existed merely feeling the heat of Steven's body and gentle rub of his hair. Andrew almost felt as if he could fall asleep this way and wouldn't be surprised if Steven did too.

And then Steven let out the loudest, longest burp Andrew had ever heard in his life.

Andrew wasn't exaggerating…he could feel it rattle through his body from Steven's and it almost made Andrew's ears ring. Andrew thought they were both surprised because Steven quickly lifted his head to look at Andrew; they both stared at each for several long, silent seconds. And they both started laughing hysterically at the same moment.

Andrew couldn't remember laughing that hard in a good long time; he laughed so hard that tears came to eyes and he had to rub at his wet eyelashes. The combination of the fatigue, drinks, good food and that contentment of everything they had done that night mixed through Andrew to make him feel happier than he had been a very long time.

When they finally managed to control their laughter, Steven was still in his lap, rubbing his eyes, his face red with embarrassment. "Sorry" he managed to say, obviously embarrassed.

"Do you feel better?" Andrew asked, finally managing to wipe away all of the happy tears.

"Much better" Steven said, taking a breath and already looking visibly relieved.

"Good…..that's all that matters" Andrew reassured him. Then, with a note of humor, "You're just crushing that brunch."

Steven laughed at the reference to their brunch episode and then there was this long pause…..Steven was still sitting in his lap but instead of nuzzling against Andrew's shoulder where they didn't have to look at each other and could enjoy the closeness without feeling weird about it, they were now looking into each other's eyes. Andrew could feel a heavy awkwardness to it and knew that Steven surely could feel it too. Andrew didn't want it to end but he knew that it was about to.

Steven slid down off his lap to sit next to him on the couch. Andrew immediately felt a cold, emptiness; he'd grown quite used to that heavy warmth and was a bit sad it was gone. He didn't quite want it to end; the closeness, the contact, the contentment…He thought about draining the last of his drink to give him a burst of courage but realized that he didn't need it. Steven had climbed out of his lap but he had also climbed INTO his lap and that meant that there was some part of him that wanted that closeness, he was just too shy to admit it. Someone had to be brave enough to admit it; it turned out that person was Andrew.

"Here….now you can lie down" Andrew said. Pulling on all the courage he had, he grabbed Steven by the shoulders and turned him so that he was lying down across the couch with his head in Andrew's lap. Steven didn't fight it; he seemed actually quite be happy about it based on the little smile he had on his lips when he looked up at Andrew.

Steven lay down and Andrew could once again see that small, swollen bit of skin of Steven's stomach; he didn't know why it was so fascinating to him. Perhaps it was the fact that he was one that had filled it near to bursting; but perhaps it was something else he wasn't going to analyze. Still, he couldn't stop himself from saying, "Alright, let's see that belly." Well, it was better than yanking up Steven's shirt, which Andrew did consider for a few seconds. Well, it was a LITTLE bit better at least.

"No!" Steven protested, yanking his shirt down so Andrew couldn't see it at all. His eyes were closed, he was content…..Andrew knew he'd convince him soon enough.

"I'm all…..big…..bloated" Steven argued, still pulling on his shirt.

"Ah…come on…..that's why I want to see it" Andrew said. He was laughing and he knew he might sound a bit weird. It WAS a weird thing to say but he didn't care. It wasn't like the two of them were unaccustomed to being a little weird; hell, this whole evening was technically very weird.

Steven's eyes snapped open, looking straight up at Andrew with a confusion but he was laughing so Andrew knew it wasn't too serious. "You want to see me when I'm all fat and huge?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Fat? I'd have to feed you quite a few more meals like this for you to be fat" he said, "You're just full. You'll be your normal skinny self tomorrow. Now, let me see that pasty tummy"

Andrew knew that Steven would laugh at the word 'tummy' and he wasn't disappointed. He laughed shamelessly, eyes squinted tightly before he realized that he was supposed to be insulted. "My tummy isn't PASTY!" he argued.

Andrew tried not to laugh at the tummy; that was supposed to be for Steven. But he found that he couldn't stop laughing when it was directed back at him; it was just so RIDICULOUS…

"Prove it then…..let me see that tummy. I might just rub it" Andrew said. He was kind of joking but he was fully prepared to back it up if need be. Also, he was fairly sure that Steven couldn't resist that kind of proposition.

He wasn't disappointed. Steven narrowed his eyes as if studying Andrew. "Keep in mind…..I'm normally much more…trim than this. But even so, I'm NOT pasty" Steven said before pulling his shirt up to his chest, revealing his stomach.

Andrew had to laugh. No matter what he said, his stomach WAS rather pale; it was winter so Andrew didn't expect much (he was white as a ghost himself). And as far as FAT, Steven had a slight little pouch that was obviously just food and would clearly be gone by tomorrow. All that was obvious; what was less obvious was why Andrew was so fascinated by that little pouch and wanted to squeeze it. He settled for putting his hand on it and began rubbing it. Of course, he had to throw in a joke about it; he didn't want to seem TOO weird.

"Oh my god! I thought all of the bears were already asleep…..I better rub this belly quick so you can go back to hibernating" Andrew said dramatically. It was LAME…..super lame…like dad joke lame…he wasn't at his best because he was so…..so…..SOMETHING…..he couldn't name. All it did was make Steven try to pull his shirt back down.

"I'm bloated! I'm not fat!" Steven protested, pulling at his shirt.

Andrew pulled Steven's shirt back up, effectively not giving a shit at this point. "I'm just joking…..stop trying to hide it. You barely have anything here! I'm teasing!" Andrew said, succeeding in pulling Steven's shirt up and beginning to rub his stomach again.

Steven looked like he tried to argue but the second Andrew began to rub his stomach, he stopped immediately. His eyes closed, his face relaxed and he gave into it.

Andrew rubbed around Steven's stomach in circles, up and down, all around…Steven slightly sighed and quietly gave something that sounded like a half moan every now and then. Andrew was being slightly undone by it but he was relieved that Steven was (mostly) quiet and relaxed, that they had moved past the moment of awkwardness to the point of relaxation. Steven couldn't help but notice that Steven's skin was a bit like his hair; way too soft to be allowed, smooth and silky like something much younger than himself. He and Steven were the same age and somehow he felt like Steven was something much younger, more delicate, softer…it was frankly a bit ridiculous but there it was and Andrew couldn't make it go away. Andrew had touched Steven before, that wasn't new; but somehow it had always been through layers of fabric, under the glare of a camera, between bites of ridiculously expensive food. It wasn't as pure and simple as this…it had never just been between them and it made a difference.

Andrew still had no idea what the HELL this THING was that he was feeling. He was still no closer to knowing why he wanted to take of Steven than he had been before this evening; he just knew he still did want it. He had no why he wanted to feed Steven, why that gave him such pleasure and why such actions as burping him or rubbing his belly felt like it was exactly what he's always needed. He'd spent the whole night doing these things, much to his strange pleasure, but he still didn't know why he felt it. But there it was…..and he was, for the moment, simply happy to leave it there. He didn't need to understand it right now; had enjoyed it and he was sure that Steven had too and that was all that mattered.

They were in this quiet, warm happy moment of strange unspoken satisfaction when Steven spoke up. Steven was lying against the couch, his head of ridiculously soft hair nestled in Andrew's lap, Andrew rubbing his stomach in lazy circles with his eyes closed when Steven said, "I really thought this was weird at first"

Andrew's inherit self-consciousness was awakened instantly; his hand stopped, his heart raced…he felt like he couldn't quite breathe unless he forced himself to. If he was logical he would have seen it was all fine but he wasn't feeling logical and felt this might the crumbling of everything that had happened that evening. Was Steven going to say this was too weird? Was he going to say that he wanted to stop?

Andrew tried to stutter out a query to Steven's words but felt like his tongue was eerily stuck to the top of his mouth. He wanted to ask what he meant; was he unhappy? Did he regret it?…but before he could ask, Steven was already speaking again, allowing Andrew to breathe again.

"I thought it was really weird that you'd want to take care of me…because no one ever really wanted to do that….with me…I didn't understand it" Steven said. His eyes were closed as if he couldn't meet Andrew's, which was of course okay because he wasn't sure he could either. He didn't even know what to SAY. That was okay because Steven went on.

"I thought it would be really weird….letting someone take care of me. I didn't know why someone would want to do that…..or why I would want them to…..but…somehow…" Steven paused, as if he couldn't say what he wanted to. But that was okay because Andrew understood; Steven hadn't expected to like being so vulnerable around Andrew but he was admitting that he had.

Andrew felt an indescribable warmth flood through him at the implication that Steven liked being taken care of…..that he had done a good job taking care of him…..Steven's eyes were closed but Andrew was smiling, rubbing his belly ever so gently. Everything was right…..the warm, soft way Steven felt, the warmness in his chest thinking about Steven's words…

"I don't know why…but…..I really like this…it feels weird saying that but…..I do" Steven said with a grin. He looked slightly guilty at the admission but his happiness was greater.

Andrew didn't even realize how nervous he'd been about this not working out until that threat was passed and he felt the relief flooding through his body. He was going to be okay…he hadn't ruined their friendship by wanting something more. He was going to be okay…..THEY were going to be okay. Rubbing Steven's belly and resisting the urge to hug him tightly, Andrew said, "I do too…..I really like this too."

He didn't know if this was going to happen again but there was the possibility that it COULD.

And somehow, with Steven's slight, bright grin, his own relief and happiness, and everything else, this was, simply, enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed this fic! Please let me know if you'd like to see me do a continuation of this story or something similar in the future!


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